A Soldier Without a Leader, a Ninja Without a Purpose
by Sand-wolf579
Summary: Pokémon Adventures verse: "A ninja can't live without a purpose, and I have lost mine." After the fight against the Elite Four Lt. Surge goes to Fuchsia to try to find Koga.


**A/N: This story takes place in the world of Pokémon Adventures, just after the whole Yellow arch where they defeat the Elite Four. It is advised that you read the first seven volumes of Pokémon Adventure, as this story will be referencing a whole bunch of stuff from there...and it's an awesome manga series and why wouldn't you want to read it? So, uh, I hope you enjoy and don't feel completely lost when reading this.**

 **And yes, I know it's a really long title, but it's the only thing I could think of that seriously worked.**

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Lt. Surge stood on the deck of the S.S. Anne and frowned. It had been weeks since the ship had even left the harbor, and even now it wasn't being used to cargo anything. The only passengers on the ship were Lt. Surge and the crew. They were just taking the ship out for a test run to make sure that things were working right.

It felt really weird for Lt. Surge to be back on the water, or to be anywhere that wasn't Vermilion City. Not since what had happened with those Elite Four jerks. He still couldn't believe what those Pokémon loving elitists had done to his city. That dragon obsessed freak had completely _destroyed_ his city. They were only just starting to get things rebuilt and back to normal.

If Lt. Surge had to think of one thing good about this whole disaster it was that at least he had the respect of his city again. The citizens hadn't been very excited about his recent return to Vermilion City, because of course his city was full of stuck up Pokémon worshipping idiots who fawned over their weak, unevolved Pokémon. He still found it ridiculous that so many of them were still mad at him for what had happened two years ago. So what if he had taken their Pokémon? He had also made them stronger and not so pathetic. The people should be _thanking_ him for unlocking their Pokémon's true potential instead of letting it be stuck as either a doll or a pet.

At least the citizens, even the Pokéfreaks, were treating him with the appreciation and respect that he deserved. None of those idiots had any idea where to even begin to rebuild their city. Lt. Surge had been the only one to step up and he made sure that the job got done.

Vermilion City wasn't back to its former glory quite yet, but it was rebuilt enough for Surge to leave for a bit without worrying about everything they had rebuilt falling to the ground. He didn't plan on being gone for long, there was still a lot of work that had to be done. He was just taking a break from his city to check up on something.

Surge saw that they were approaching Cycling Road and just beyond there was the open water of the ocean. He wouldn't be making it that far though, not this time around. Surge grabbed four of his Pokéballs from his pockets and let out his magnemite. There was no port around, but this was still his stop.

"Alright, guys, you know what to do." His magneton floated into the shape of a pyramid and used their magnetic charge to create an energy platform. Surge climbed onto and platform and held onto his pokemon. He knew they didn't really do well with water, but he trusted them to carry him to land. They had never let him down before.

As his Pokémon carried him toward the base of the hill at Cycling Road Surge watched the S.S. Anne sail off. He knew it wouldn't be going far, only to Cinnabar Island and back, but it still felt pretty good to see the cargo ship on the open water again.

It wasn't long before his magneton had gotten him on study ground again. Surge returned them to their Pokéballs and turned to the east where he could see Fuchsia City just a short distance away.

Maybe he was just feeling nervous ( _of course_ he wasn't nervous!) but Surge really didn't want to be there right now. It had just been so long since he had set foot in Fuchsia City. Now though, he kinda had to be there. He had some responsibilities to take care of...yeah, they weren't exactly _his_ responsibilities, but he figured he should do this favor for his...friend? Ally? Cohort? He wasn't even sure what they had been. Well, whatever they were, Surge figured he owed him at least this much.

Upon entering the city Surge marvelled at just how quiet and peaceful it was. No wonder ninja boy liked to be around here. The only sounds Surge heard as he walked down the streets towards the Fuchsia City Gym was the cries of the Pokémon in the Safari Zone. The city felt downright peaceful and completely different from Vermilion, which was in the middle of being rebuilt and still extremely chaotic.

Lt. Surge immediately headed for the gym, or, as he liked to call it, Ninja Headquarters. The door was locked (duh), but one doesn't become a higher up member of Team Rocket without having a few lock picking skills. With very little effort Surge was able to break into the gym. He immediately walked past the training area to the back where the sleeping quarters were.

The gym was completely silent, it even blocked out the Pokémon cries from outside. The gym _seemed_ to be completely empty, but for all he knew the occupants were just asleep or something. It was the middle of the night after all. If they _were_ asleep though, Surge really didn't want to be the one to wake them up. He had learned years ago that it was best to let sleeping ninjas lay.

So even though it wasn't really his style, Surge crept quietly through the building, doing his best to be as silent as possible. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at it. The floor boards kept on squeaking with every step he took. It wasn't loud enough to wake anybody up unless they were the lightest sleeper in the world, but if somebody was already awake they were probably well aware of his presence by now.

Nobody came to ambush him though, so Surge just assumed that either nobody was home or they just weren't awake. Either way he was pretty relieved. He really didn't want to be caught right now. That would just bring up a bunch of questions that he didn't want to deal with.

Surge went to the door of one of the two regularly used bedrooms and opened the door. Even through the darkness he could tell that the room was empty, and by the looks of things had been for awhile. Surge had half expected this, but it was still somewhat concerning. He left the room and quickly crossed down the hallway to the other bedroom. If she hadn't been in her own room, Surge knew that she was likely here. The question now though was where was _this_ room's occupant and why had they left.

Surge entered the second bedroom and breathed a sigh that was half relief and half disappointment. Through the moonlight shining through the window he could see a figure sleeping soundly on the bed. Considering the figure had dyed purple hair and a smaller physique, Surge had a pretty good idea who it was...and who it _wasn't._

"Geeze, Janine, I haven't seen you do this since you were a kid." Surge approached the bed. Even in her sleep Janine looked bothered by something, which Surge had kinda expected. When she was a little kid and missing her father while he was out doing jobs for Team Rocket she would sneak into his room and curl up on his bed until he returned. Seeing her do it _now_ had only confirmed what Surge had been worrying about for weeks now.

"I guess your dad hasn't come back, has he?" Surge frowned and leaned against the wall. This was just getting ridiculous. He had hoped that Koga would have made an appearance again, even if just to his daughter, but it seemed that he hadn't. So now Surge thought he could consider it official. Koga was missing.

Surge wished he had known what had happened to him on Cerise Island. That Blue kid had been the last one to even see him. It was as though the ninja had just disappeared. The really frustrating thing though was that nobody else seemed to care at all. The 'Gym Leaders of Justice' (that was a stupid name) were probably just relieved that another 'evil' gym leader was gone. Sabrina was just angry that he was missing because she thought, like Giovanni did, that he had vanished on purpose because he was 'scared' or something.

Scared of what? That Giovanni would be mad at them? Did those two not know Koga at all? He was a freaking ninja! The last thing that Koga was afraid of was a little discipline and a slight scolding. No, Koga wouldn't have disappeared without a word just because of that. There had to be something more going on, and Lt. Surge intended on figuring it out.

The only problem was that he had no idea how to go about doing that. Koga was a ninja, therefore he would be nearly impossible to find. Surge had hoped that he had just been hiding out quietly in his city, but no such luck. It didn't look like ninja junior would be of much help either, because if Janine knew where he father was she would have gone to him by now. Yeah, she might be helpful in actually looking for Koga, but Lt. Surge knew Janine well enough to know that when she got upset she became distant and desperate, completely lost all focus. Basically, she became a bad ninja...not that he would ever tell _her_ that, because she would probably still be able to kick his butt.

So it looked like he would be looking for Koga on his own. Fantastic. Well, at least the trip to Fuchsia hadn't been a _complete_ waste of time. Sure, he hadn't found Koga, and he wasn't any closer to knowing where he was, but at least he could rest easy knowing that the city seemed to be surviving fine without him, and Janine, while unhappy, was doing okay. She was a tough girl, and Surge knew that she could handle herself. Still, it was reassuring to see it with his own eyes. He had been kinda worried...but only a little bit.

Lt. Surge may not know the young ninja in training all that well, but he was still pretty fond of her. She was ambitious and ever since she was a little kid she wanted to become a ninja master and Team Rocket member. She had guts, and Surge respected her for that. Also, she was Koga's daughter and Surge didn't even want to think about how Koga would react if anything happened to her. He would probably try to destroy anybody and everybody who had harmed her or hadn't done enough to protect her.

Surge had been on the receiving end of Koga's wrath a few times before, and it wasn't an experience that he wanted to repeat. So yeah, he figured he could spare a trip to Fuchsia every once and awhile to check up on Janine, make sure she was alive and healthy, just so he could avoid Koga's anger.

But he couldn't afford to stay in Fuchsia for long tonight. He had just been planning on making it a quick check, make sure that Janine was alive and Koga wasn't hiding. Surge would do a more extensive search for Koga later, but that had to wait for a day when Vermilion was more stable, when he could afford to leave it for more than a few hours.

Surge sighed and pushed himself away from the wall. There was really no point in staying here for any longer. He had done what he had come here to do, and even though it hadn't been all that productive he still had to leave. Surge barely made it three steps towards the door when something really fast went flying past his head and embedded itself into the wall.

Surge spared a glance towards the object and froze in his tracks when he saw a ninja star Pokéball. That wasn't the type of thing that they sold at marts. Surge knew only one person who had ever used these things, and he had never been so relieved to be threatened by them.

"You've gotten sloppy, ninja boy." Surge smirked and turned towards the window. "You missed by at least a few inches." At first glance there seemed to be nobody there, but Surge knew better. He kept his gaze focused there and, lo and behold, a figure came sulking out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Of course, it was Koga. Surge felt relief upon seeing him, though that quickly turned to concern when he saw the state that his friend was in.

Even with the bad lighting Surge could tell that Koga looked paler than he usually did. He also seemed to be favoring his right arm. He was injured. "What happened to you?" Surge asked, because he knew that Koga had a tendency to hide his injuries. If Surge could see signs of him being hurt, no matter how subtle they were, he knew that it was usually much more serious than it looked.

"The battle against the Elite Four took more out of me than I had anticipated." Koga said coldly. Surge frowned.

"The Elite Four? We fought those idiots _weeks_ ago." Just how injured had Koga been that he was still feeling the side effects? Now Surge was beginning to consider himself lucky. Koga had been injured and then gone missing after the fight. And even though she tried to hide it Surge knew that Sabrina was dealing with some nasty side effects from her fight against Lorelei. Then there was Blaine who was still extremely weak from having his Mewtwo powerhouse out for too long.

Yes, Surge knew that he was _extremely_ lucky.

Surge sighed and approached Koga. "Show me your arm." Koga usually took good care of his injuries, so if something was wrong with his arm then something must _seriously_ be wrong with it. Surge may not be as careful with taking care of injuries, but he had been in the army, he knew a thing or two about basic first aid.

Koga looked reluctant to be showing any more weakness than he already was, but he held out his arm anyways. Probably because he knew that if he didn't willing show Surge what was wrong, then he would make him show him by force.

Lt. Surge rolled up the sleeve of Koga's shirt and didn't miss the subtle flinch that the ninja gave. The skin of his arm looked red and slightly swollen. There were also two deep and fairly large puncture wounds on his upper arm. They looked like they were in the process of healing, and were just slightly infected.

"Leech life." Surge said thoughtfully as he looked at the marks. He had seen what the after effects of the bug type move look like if they weren't treated properly. For most Pokémon, and people, leech life was fairly tame, nothing serious. For others, it could be deadly serious. Surge had always found it extremely ironic that Koga was one of those people who were more affected by leech life than others. No wonder his aim had been slightly off. At least he knew how to treat it decently. "From a golbat, right?" Only one kind of Pokémon could leave bite marks that large. Koga nodded stiffly.

"From my own, actually." Koga smirked slightly.

"Your own golbat?" Lt. Surge frowned. That didn't sound right. He remembered who Koga and that Blue kid had been up against on Cerise Island. "That ghost witch didn't possess him, did she?"

Koga shook his head. "No, Golbat was just following my orders. It's a long story."

Lt. Surge crossed his arms. "Hey, I got all night."

"Agatha had an arbok with a rather interesting ability." Koga said as he rolled down the sleeve of his shirt again. "It could change the pattern on it's stomach to use different powers. The only way to beat it was by covering up its pattern so it couldn't use it. The only thing I had on hand that was opaque enough was my own blood."

"Geeze." Surge winced. It freaked him out sometimes just how far Koga would go to accomplish his goal. He could be scarily determined when he needed to be. At least he knew how to get things done. Still, it was a little unnerving sometimes. "So, does this have anything to do with where you've been all this time? Nobody's heard from you. Do you know how _worried_ Janine was?" Honestly, Surge didn't know _exactly_ how worried she had been, but he could take a pretty good guess, considering she was sleeping in her father's bed.

Koga frowned and approached his sleeping daughter. "That hadn't been my intention. I just...had things I needed to think about."

"Great? You done thinking yet?" Surge crossed his arms and scowled. This was one thing he hated about working with a ninja master. Whenever Koga had things on his mind he always felt the need to wander off and consider things by himself. Half the time he didn't even tell anybody that he was wandering off.

Koga knelt next to his bed and pushed a stray bit of hair away from Janine's face. She shifted slightly in her sleep. "Not exactly. I have come up with a solution though."

"Solution?" Surge frowned. "To what problem?"

Koga didn't look away from his daughter, and somehow Surge got the feeling that the ninja was avoiding looking in his direction. "I'm not sure you would understand."

Lt. Surge glared at Koga. He seriously hated it when people talked about him like he was some clueless idiot. "Try me."

Koga got to his feet and looked longingly out the window. "Ninja's need to have a purpose to fulfill, a master to serve. Otherwise, they are just martial artists."

"So what?" Surge didn't want a ninja lesson, he wanted a real explanation. Koga finally turned his way and his eyes were cold and hard.

"So if I have none than what is the point?" Koga asked.

"What do you mean you don't have a purpose? We've still got Team Rocket." Surge said. Just because Giovani had been lying low for the past two years and would probably continue to do the same did not mean that they were done.

Koga shook his head. "We both know that any attempt to rebuild Team Rocket will fail without Giovanni's leadership, and his pride has been wounded too much to continue leading this organization."

Lt. Surge scowled. Sure, _Giovanni_ was the one who was letting his wounded pride get in the way of things. Please. Screw all of this ninja nonsense, Surge knew that Koga was only having all of these doubts because his own pride had been wounded from that battle with Agatha, that was it.

"Even if that's true," Lt. Surge growled, because it _wasn't_. "Why should that mean you don't have a purpose anymore? You got your gym. You got your _daughter."_

Koga looked almost pained at the reminder. "I cannot stay and help Janine on her path when I don't even know what mine is."

Surge froze at those words. "You can't stay? So, what, you're just going to leave?" He had to be interpreting that wrong. Koga was a man who took his responsibilities _very_ seriously. He wouldn't just up and leave them without a word. However, the solemn expression on Koga's face was enough to prove to Surge that maybe he hadn't known the man as well as he thought he had.

"A ninja can't live without a purpose, and I have lost mine." Koga said. Surge thought that he was being seriously overdramatic, but he thought he understood. After all, he had been in the army, and one of his worst memories from back then was when he saw so many soldiers lose their lives because they had lost communication with their commanding officer. They were all trained soldiers, but without a voice to speak out and tell them what to do with their training, the men floundered. They were lost without a leader. Was that the kind of thing that Koga was talking about?

Surge sighed. He still thought that his friend was overreacting, but he knew that he couldn't talk him out of something once he had decided to do it. "Do you have any idea how long you'll be gone for?"

"It could be a few weeks. Could be a few years." Koga said. He looked so serious and almost upset that Surge almost found himself missing the constant smirk that Koga usually had. Suddenly he wanted to see it again.

"Well, you have fun on your little 'self discovery' trip." Surge slapped Koga on the back, causing the man to stagger forward a little bit. Surge smirked. He always had a blast with the fact that he was physically stronger than Koga. Sure, the other man would kick his butt in a fight, but as far as brute force went Surge won hands down. "Try not to get yourself killed while you're out on your own."

"Oh, I'm not going on my own." Ah, _there_ was Koga's smirk. "I have a travelling companion."

"Wait, seriously?" Surge frowned. While he was relieved he wasn't wandering off on his own, he was seriously confused as to who his companion might be.

"Yes. Bruno, from the Elite Four." Koga's smirk widened when Surge could only gape at him. Seriously, did he _want_ to know how Koga had decided to work with someone from the Elite Four? Probably not.

As shocking as it was though, Surge couldn't say that he disapproved. Bruno seemed like a pretty okay guy...when he wasn't being possessed by ghosts that is. He had a warrior's spirit and Surge could see him and Koga working well together. They were both certainly strong enough to watch each other's backs.

"You'd better kick his butt if he gives you a hard time." Surge said. Just because Koga was having a whole identity crisis didn't mean he had to let somebody walk all over him. Koga smirked in response, which showed that that was _exactly_ what he had been planning on doing.

The two stood in silence for a few minutes, with the only sound being that of Janine snoring quietly (for a ninja she sure wasn't very good at being completely silent). Koga seemed content with just watching his daughter sleep. It took awhile for Surge to realize why.

"You're leaving tonight, aren't you?" Surge asked.

"That was the plan." Koga confirmed.

"And you weren't planning on waking up Janine, were you?" Surge asked. Koga frowned and just looked at his daughter.

"I'm not sure if I could stand to." Koga said after a moment, and Surge understood what he meant. Koga was worried that if Janine woke up she would try to convince him to stay, and he didn't think he would be able to say no to her.

"At least leave her a note or something." Surge said. "She worries about you."

"Yes, I know." Koga's eyes were filled with concern and love for his daughter, and it was a little unnerving for Surge. Koga was supposed to be hard and stoic, completely professional in everything that he did. It was really weird to see him get so emotional, and Surge didn't like it. He was willing to say anything to get that expression off of Koga's face.

"You don't have to worry about her, you know." Surge commented naturally, even though what he was about to say felt anything but natural. "I'll come check up on her every week. Besides, she's strong and more than capable of taking care of herself."

"I know." Koga smirked proudly. "She doesn't recognize her own strength."

"Yeah, because she's always comparing herself to you." Surge nudged Koga. Maybe with her father gone Janine would begin to recognize just how powerful and capable she was. Koga, who despised being pushed around by anybody, glared at Surge who just snickered. Even though they had been talking this whole time, and certainly louder than that, Janine shifted slightly at the noise. Both Koga and Surge froze and just watched Janine until she rolled over, clearly still asleep. They sighed.

"Guess she's gonna be waking up soon." Surge said quietly. One thing he had noticed about Janine was that she slept like a rock until she was close to waking up anyways, in which case she was woken just as easily as her father was.

"Certainly looks like it." Koga began to step back. Surge knew that he was just seconds away from leaving, after all, he wanted to be out of there before his daughter woke up.

"Hey, ninja boy, good luck out there." Surge turned away from Janine and towards the window and he wasn't the least bit surprised to see that Koga was already gone. Surge shook his head. He hated it when Koga did those vanishing acts on him.

Through the window Surge could see the sky beginning to lighten. It was still extremely late (or early, depending on who you asked). It would be morning in just a couple of hours. Even though Surge had been planning on returning to Vermilion City before the day actually started, he changed his plans. Janine would be waking up soon (she had always been a bit of an early riser, while her father had always been a night owl) and he had some things to explain to her. She deserved to know where her father had gone and why he wouldn't be returning for quite a bit of time.

Besides, Surge was feeling pretty exhausted and he wasn't exactly in the mood to go all the way back to Vermillion City just so he could do more work there. He was in great need of a nap, and Surge had learned a few years before that Koga's gym (actually, was it Janine's gym now?) was just about the perfect place to do that. So Surge quietly walked out of Koga's room, trying his best not to disturb the sleeping junior ninja, and returned back to Janine's room because it was the closest.

Surge didn't even bother taking his shoes off. He just collapsed onto the bed and within seconds fell asleep to the distant sounds of wild Pokémon out in the Safari Zone.

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 **A/N: It's amazing how easily some chapters of fanfiction just come to me. I swear, this thing wrote itself. I love it when that happens. You know what else I love? Koga and Lt. Surge. They're both totally awesome, especially in Pokémon Adventures. This whole idea just happened because I was over thinking why Koga left his city and daughter to train or whatever with Bruno. Thus, we have this. I hope you enjoyed it, and don't think this will be the last you will see of my Pokémon Adventures stories.**


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